John Preston National Stewardship Officer Church of England 2 minutes : Welcome and introduction

Parish Share across the country….. Contributes £325 million to dioceses… who spend £352 million on clergy stipends, pensions and housing costs. Across the church was 33% of income, and 34% of expenditure in 2013; and 41% of unrestricted income, and 41% of regular expenditure (i.e excluding ‘capital’ spend on buildings). Contributions are determined in various ways in different dioceses. Nationally, 94.5% of parish share requested is contributed.

Starting in the wrong place… How can I reduce my parish’s contribution? It just needs to be fair and simple.

What is fair?  Same contribution per person  According to cost  Every church pays the same  Same contribution per person  According to cost  According to wealth

Five theological perspectives Community is at the heart of mission: God graciously invites his church to participate in his mission and we are ‘fellow workers’ in God’s service (1 Cor 3) All that we have belongs to God: we are not owners but stewards (creation, parable of the talents). Mutual support. (2 Cor 8&9) Paul commends the principles of equality and supporting one another. (Applies to individuals and to churches) Sharing enables multiplication - wealth, possessions time or skills. Feeding of 10,000 followed the sharing of a packed lunch! (John 6:9). Ministry costs! Paul moves from being self-supporting to being released for full time ministry. (Acts 18)

Types of System: Cost based 12 dioceses allocate parish share in proportion to the costs of ministry allocated to a parish, benefice or deanery. Benefits and Weaknesses simple and transparent. If no wealth factor, this system has the lowest degree of mutual support. If no wealth factor, risk of congregationalism as parishes focus on meeting their own costs.

Types of System: Offering or Gift 11 dioceses inform deaneries or benefices of the cost of their stipendiary ministry, and invite offerings to meet these costs. Benefits and Weaknesses Requires Christian maturity. emphasises at a parish level the generosity and spirit of offering that we seek to nurture in individual giving. Works best where less mutual support required. High % of offers contributed, but no control over total level of offers.

Types of System: ‘Potential’ based 8 dioceses allocate in proportion to the “potential” ability of donors in a parish to give, combining measures of membership and wealth/incomes. Benefits and Weaknesses Underlying concept is simple, but formulae can be complex. This type of system probably generates the largest amount of mutual support. Can be an issue for large parishes with local staffing if all costs are allocated through this.

Types of System: Formula based 5 dioceses allocate according to a formula which may include Parish or investment Incomes, Attendance or Membership levels, and Ministry resource. Benefits and Weaknesses Seeks to be fair, but can lack transparency. Often misunderstood. If allocate to deaneries can be complex if another system then used to allocate to parishes.

Types of System: Wealth Adjustment Several approaches to modifying a system to incorporate relative wealth/prosperity: Church family anonymous income survey. Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) Statistics Self-assessment Council tax banding of homes of Electoral Roll members External data such as Mosaic data from Experian.

But the system isn’t the most important thing…. Unity Transparency Accountability 11